Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC

Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC
Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC
	Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 28, 1990; Decided June 27, 1990
Full case name	Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. Federal Co
Citations	497 U.S. 547 (more) 110 S. Ct. 2997; 111 L. Ed. 2d 445
Case history
Prior	Winter Park Communications, Inc. v. FCC, 873 F.2d 347 (D.C. Cir. 1989), affirmed and remanded; Shurberg Broadcasting of Hartford, Inc. v. FCC, 876 F.2d 902 (D.C. Cir. 1989), reversed and remanded.
Holding
	The FCC policies do not violate equal protection since they bear the imprimatur of longstanding congressional support and direction and are substantially related to the achievement of the important governmental objective of broadcast diversity.
Court membership
	Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr. · Byron White; Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun; John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor; Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
Case opinions
Majority	Brennan, joined by White, Marshall, Blackmun, Stevens
Concurrence	Stevens
Dissent	O'Connor, joined by Rehnquist, Scalia, Kennedy
Dissent	Kennedy, joined by Scalia
Laws applied
	U.S. Const. amend. XIV
	Overruled by
	Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña, 515 U.S. 200 (1995)

Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC, 497 U.S. 547 (1990), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States that held that intermediate scrutiny should be applied to equal protection challenges to federal statutes using benign racial classifications for a non-remedial purpose.^[1] The Court distinguished the previous year's decision City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co.,^[2] by noting that it applied only to actions by state and local governments.^[3] Metro Broadcasting was overruled by Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña, which held that strict scrutiny should be applied to federal laws that use benign racial classifications.^[4] This opinion was the last authored by William J. Brennan Jr., the longtime leader of the Court's liberal wing.^[5]

References

^ Varat, J.D. et al. Constitutional Law Cases and Materials, Concise Thirteenth Edition. Foundation Press, NY: 2009, p. 610
^ City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co., 488 U.S. 469 (1989).
^ Varat, p. 616
^ Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña, 515 U.S. 200, 227 (1995).
^ "William J. Brennan". Oyez. Retrieved February 11, 2024. In Brennan's last vote as a Supreme Court Justice, he sided with the majority in Metro Broadcasting v. Federal Communications Commission (1990), upholding the constitutionality of two federal affirmative action programs aimed at increasing black ownership of radio and television stations.

Text of Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC, 497 U.S. 547 (1990) is available from: CourtListener Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio)

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